“New media and connective technologies enhance our ability to listen…Social media provides new ways for us to keep our ear to the ground,” said McHale. “Of course, we are not interested in developing social media platforms for the sake of having them. We are interested in applying social media to promote our strategic objectives in the Americas.”

Officials at Sweden's tourism board agreed to hand over control of their @sweden Twitter feed in December to a different Swedish citizen each week. The project -- billed as "the world's most democratic Twitter account" -- has so far been hugely popular, featuring a female priest, an advertising executive and an organic sheep farmer.

When Secretary Clinton announced the launch of the first-ever virtual embassy for Iran, she made clear that the U.S. Department of State wants to communicate directly to the people of Iran and to support a more direct and robust engagement between our people, emphasizing the role of new media platforms to reach younger and more tech-savvy audiences.

Russian speakers/readers of the language might be struck by the number of negative comments to the Ambassador's YouTube performance, which suggests that Russian anti-Americanism is indeed a factor to consider in the two countries' relations -- and that, on a more mundane level, Russians use the Internet as a way of "letting off steam."

The U.S. Department of State and U.S. Missions abroad have developed a range of initiatives to showcase U.S. diplomatic leadership in leveraging digital networks and technologies in service of its foreign policy goals.

With the vast majority of North Koreans not having access to the Internet, such initiatives are aimed solely at an international audience. Those who have do have Internet access connect through the “Kwangmyong,” essentially an isolated national Intranet...

Another reason why the United States government tries its level best to ensure a free Internet is because it serves its foreign policy goals with respect to public diplomacy and outreach at very minimal cost. Internet-enabled protest movements are bringing down undemocratic governments faster

Extremist use of the media and information environment to propagate views and garner international support comes under the microscope in Germany next month...experts from government, academia and industry will focus on the issue...